Saturday, August 18, 2012

We made it to the Wisconsin Dells, better known as the Waterpark Capital of the World and boy do they mean it. Even the cheapy hotels had some sort of water slide in it. It has to be one of the biggest tourist traps, I mean ... destinations that I have seen. About 20-30 waterparks, with about 10 of those being very large scale amusement/water parks.

Can you imagine seeing this going down the street.

We stayed at the KOA while we were here and went roaming through town. Unfortunately, the parks closed about 7pm and we worked until 5pm, but we did get to see many of them. We also got to go on a Dinner Cruise up the Wisconsin River (Upper and Lower Dells) with Jason and Carol. That was sure pretty. They served steak and lobster... very yummy.

I love watching the sun go down.Well, we received notice that the house finally has been sold... well, in reality, the bank bought it back, but either way.. it is no longer ours. The kids are working on their move out plans and we are headed back, once again, to put our stuff into storage and hand over keys. Thought we could do this remote, but the storage company needs to see Delbert since he is the only one registered on the motorcycle. Oh well... nice 1800 mile trip, but at least we have about 4 weeks to do it in.... so next stop Iowa and Nebraska.You can view videos at Delbert's Videos on YouTube.

Minnesota is nicknames the Land of 10,000 Lakes... well I think I saw half of them just driving in from North Dakota. Every few miles there was more water. We stayed just outside of the Twin Cities at a campground called St Paul East RV Park. It was a nice park and close to shopping. Also, Mall of America was only about 20 miles. We didn't know it was here until we saw the signs coming into town. We decided to take a drive out there and see what it was all about. WOW... First, it was built where the old Vikings/Twins stadium was. There is even a plaque in the amusement park part of the mall where the home plate used to be. It is 4 stories and yes for those who didn't catch it the first time... has an amusement park in it along with an aquarium. Lots of shopping and restaurants.Our next task was to look around the Twin Cities. We like to pick a few places to see... usually historical or trendy I guess is the word I would use. For instance, we saw the Capitol, a couple of beautiful churches, ball parks and bridges, but we all so the Mary Tyler Moore statue. This statue is in the place where they filmed her throwing her beret in the air in the opening credits.

Also while we were here, we had a nice dinner and visit with a friend of Delbert's, Ken. It was a really fun time and boy can his wife cook.We head to Wisconsin next.You can view videos at Delbert's Videos on YouTube.

Hey there. We made it through the storm in South Dakota and headed North to...... you guessed it, North Dakota. Really this is just an overnight stop so I can add it to my map and it doesn't look any different than South Dakota. We stayed at Lindenwood Campground in Fargo, ND. It was a pretty park on the river. We didn't find a whole lot to see around there, but we did eat dinner at Pop's Roadside Eatery which shares its kitchen with Mom's Diner and Tailgator Sports Bar. Pretty neat place, 3 restaurants in one and the food wasn't bad either.

Well our next stop is the Twin Cities.You can view videos at Delbert's Videos on YouTube.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

I made it. I got to the Ingalls Homestead in the town of De Smet, SD. So cool to know that Laura use to live here. The town of DeSmet keeps here memory alive... Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway, Laura Ingalls Wilder Pagent Society, Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society and Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary school are all there. The Homestead sits about a mile or two from De Smet.

Laura was born in Pepin, WI. She moved with her family from Pepin, WI to Independence, KS to Walnut Grove, MN to Burr Oak, IA back to Walnut Grove, MN to De Smet, SD where Pa, Ma and Mary stayed the rest of their lives. Laura, of course, married Almanzo and moved to Mansfield, MO.

The first winter in De Smet (1879-80), the Ingalls stayed in the Surveyor's house below. Laura wrote about this house in the book, "By the Shores of Silver Lake".

Pa built the house below in 1887 and it is the last home for him, Ma and Mary. This is the original location and they have it filled with original items of the Ingalls family.

After viewing this house, we went to the cemetery to visit the grave sites of Pa, Ma, Mary, Carrie, Grace (with her husband) and Baby boy Wilder.This was such an awesome trip and it was so nice to hear so much about Laura and her family.Well we head to North Dakota on Saturday and the Twin Cities, Minnesota on Sunday for the week.You can view videos at Delbert's Videos on YouTube.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

We went for a dinner cruise today on the Coeur d'Alene Lake. Such a beautiful Lake and surrounding area. They had a great buffet with Prime Rib and Salmon on it and we cruised the lake for 2 hours while eating and chatting. Met a really nice lady, Stephanie with mom and son. The Coeur d'Alene resort sits on this lake. There is a golf course where one of the holes is actually in the lake. If you make it on the green, then you go down and take a little boat called "The Putter" to the hole, finish your shot and then take it back.

It was a beautiful time to take the cruise.... not too hot, wind blowing a little and sunset happened while we were on it.

Well our next stops will be Missoula, Montana and then a long drive through Wyoming and South Dakota to get to Sioux Falls. I'll update you when we get there.You can view videos at Delbert's Videos on YouTube.

We are in Post Falls, Idaho. This is about 15 miles past Spokane, WA. We stayed here so I can put my Idaho sticker on my map. It is a very nice place. This whole area seems to have lots of lakes and streams.

We went into Spokane and looked around. We were told that they had already "turned the falls off" so that was a little bit disappointing, but we drove by the Riverfront Park. They have some really neat statues throughout the park. One really neat one is called "The Joy of Running Together" and they look like a bunch of runners running around the park.

After spending a few hours looking around Spokane, we called it a day.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Hello all... we made it to Astoria, OR. We stayed at the KOA near Fort Stevens State Park. He was a wonderful place. They had indoor pool & jacuzzi, a playground, basketball courts, horseshoes and All you can eat Pancake breakfast. It was nice and cool while we were there also. Astoria is a border town between Oregon and Washington right on the Columbia River. There is a beautiful view of the river. It is also where they filmed parts of Kindergarten Cop and the Goonies.

Astor Elementary used in Kindergarten Cop

As I said before, we stayed at the KOA that was across from Fort Stevens State Park. This is a really neat place. They have 4 or so parking areas that go out to the ocean and the beaches. One of the neat sites was the Iredale shipwreck. The Peter Iredale was a four-masted steel barque sailing vessel that ran ashore October 25, 1906.

Peter Iredale shipwreck, 105 years later

Fort Stevens is an old fort used during World War II. There were not many buildings left standing, but it is pretty cool to drive through.

OK. Well it has been a while. Last posting, we were in the Akron Ohio area and was heading to Sandusky to go to Cedar Point. We were there for a day and got a call that the house was going up for auction and we changed our plans and headed straight home. While doing so, we did stop by Madison, WI to visit my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. We then went to Mt Rushmore in South Dakota and went to this really cool place called Bear Country USA. It is a drive through exhibit with live animals... deers, wolves, sheep, mountain lions, buffalo and of course bears.

This bear was doing sentry.... just pacing back and forth letting one car in at a time.

From South Dakota, we drove through Wyoming, Utah and finally made it home to Las Vegas. We were there for a few weeks, sold/gave away our stuff, put up with 100+ degrees and celebrated our daughter, Ashley's 21st birthday. Once we had that all done, we took off to Southern California, where it was much cooler. We stayed there for a couple of weeks, visited with my sister, Pam and brother, Tim and then headed north to see our Uncle Coy in Bakersfield and our grandmother in Tracy. We then continued north to Klamath Falls, Oregon where we saw my sister, Rhonda and her family and our daughter Melissa and grandbaby, Ashlyn.

I was so nice to see them and Ashlyn is getting so big. After a couple of weeks there, we left to start our travels again. Next stop.... Astoria, Oregon.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Not long after leaving Charleston, WV we crossed over the Ohio river into Ohio. We are staying the week in the Canton/Akron area of Ohio at a campground called Pier-Lon in Medina, OH. It is a beautiful campground that is kept up. There are quite a few people who just live here. They have breakfast every Sunday morning along with church in their pavilion. I saw some people fishing in the lake and they were catching bass. They do not allow any alcohol in the park, but we took that to mean outside the trailer. I saw a couple of bunnies running around. Boy does Buddy love to try and chase them. I don't know what he would do if he ever caught one. It would probably scare the daylights out of him but he tries. He loves to go on long walks around in the wet grass.

We took our normal Sunday drive this week. We stopped by this gas station to fill up the tank and they were a country store also, so we grabbed a sandwich. We went to drive the Amish Country Scenic Byway that goes through Millersburg, Berlin and Wilmot. Very beautiful countryside. There were a few Amish out in their buggies and walking the country road. There are a lot of cheese factories there.

We continued our drive from the Amish country into Canton and Akron Ohio. It began to rain which always place havoc on my pictures. We drove out to William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum. I didn't know it was here so I didn't make plans to see it. The first one we didn't go into. We also went to see the Football Hall of Fame, the First Ladies Historical Site, and the Soap Box Derby

We left Medina a day early and headed to Sandusky, OH to Campers Village at Cedar Point Amusement Park. We planned on staying for 9 days, but got some news from home that is making us have to head back home for a while to take care of some business, so we pack up and started down the road.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

We left Mt. Airy, NC and headed north to Charleston, WV for the remainder of the week. We actually stayed in Milton, WV about 30 west of Charleston at the KOA. Very pretty KOA with large sites. One of the things I noticed about traveling is that every Walmart has memorabilia from the local colleges. Well this one was no exception. Turns out that Marshall University is just west of here. You may remember this if you watched the movie, We Are Marshall. It was a true story about a college that lost their varsity football team, staff, and other people when their chartered plane crashed on approach to the airport. We didn't go to see it, but its interesting how things jog your memory.Anyways, we stayed here until Saturday, as usual. Went to a really good Japanese steak house, saw a movie and went roaming their mall.

Friday, May 11, 2012

We went to Mt. Airy, NC last Saturday and stayed at the Mayberry campground. Mt. Airy is the hometown of Andy Griffith and the it is said to be the inspiration to Mayberry. It is also home to the Siamese twins Eng & Chang Bunker.The town of Mt. Airy really is a neat town, especially if you know about the Mayberry connection. They use squad cars for tours. They have stores like Floyd's Barber Shop, Opies Candy Store, Wally's Filling Station, Mayberry Soda Fountain, Mayberry Courthouse, the Old City Jail,Bluebird Diner, and the Snappy Lunch.

Andy Griffith was born here and they say that he used the town of Mt. Airy as the inspiration for Mayberry in his 2 shows; The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D. It is even near Pilot Mountain (Mt. Pilot). The have a playhouse and museum named after him and the TV Land Statue stands in front of it.

Andy Griffith Homeplace

TV Land Statue

Mayberry Campground is owned by the great great grandson of one of the famous Siamese twins Eng & Chang Bunker. The owner of the campground is Eng's great great grandson. Two guys attached for life, married two sisters and had 21 children together, quite a feat. The Bunker farm was a 2000 acre tobacco plantation. At first they all lived together and slept in a bed for 4, but eventually the wives had didn't get along so they had to set up separate houses.

We only stayed for one night and then headed to Charleston, WV on Sunday.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Well folks, I am a little behind on my blog updates. Last week (April 30-May 4) we were in the Raleigh Durham area. We got to see one of Delbert's friends from work and had dinner with him and his girlfriend at the Pit, a really good BBQ place. We also took in the sites of the Raleigh area including the capitol and Duke University and of course a trip to Durham isn't complete without going to see a Bulls game: they won... We had great seats, 3rd row behind home plate, but the pictures stink because of the netting. We had a great time. We stayed in a place that was nice and had huge spots. In no way was it a resort or anything like that, just lots of trees, large lots, great wi-fi and cable. There sure seemed to be a lot of universities in the area though. The campground was actually in the Chapel Hill area about 15 miles or so from Raleigh. We had a great time.Check out my blog for the next place... we are heading to Mayberry... ok Mt Airy, which is the home to Andy Griffith.You can view videos at Delbert's Videos on YouTube.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Woo Hoo... got to go see Roush Fenway Racing facility..... nienor nienor nienor.... I am like a kid in a candy store. My favorite driver is Carl Edwards and getting to see his cars and stuff is so cool... I can actually touch them. I don't know how any race car driver actually fits in the seat though. They are really narrow and if you watch a race, they just seem to hop in and out of those things like it is nothing... although, I haven't seen any heavier people racing.Roush Fenway Racing's Sprint Cup drivers currently are Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr and Trevor Bayne are Nationwide drivers. There are so many things to see here from all of the Roush drivers but I especially liked seeing the Carl stuff. After checking out the museum and gift shop we went over to their garage and saw them working on the cars.We also went to Petty Motorsports, which didn't have anything to see and we to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, which had a few more things. You can view videos at Delbert's Videos on YouTube.

Its pouring down rain and we headed to the Nascar Hall of Fame. Charlotte is home to all of the racing franchises as well as the Hall of Fame. What a cool place to see the history of the sport. Such an interesting site to see the older cars compared to the newer ones.

1939 Ford Coupe

2008 Chevy Impala SS

They have all kinds of memorabilia and trophies and such from various drivers along with a few simulators. You can check out what a car hauler looks like inside, drive a car in the simulator, practice your pit speed or go head to head in a pit challenge. It is a really neat place for racing fans, but it is really hard to describe. When you go there, you just go.... wow... Can't wait to go and check out Roush Fenway's building... Maybe Carl will be there... LOL

Monday, April 23, 2012

Saturday, we went to Carowinds Amusement Park. Now for those of you who haven't read the last post, we are right across the North Carolina border and staying in a RV park right next door to the amusement park. They have a shuttle bus that takes you back and forth to the park, but the park is only open on Friday - Sunday until later in the year. The amusement park also has a water park in it, but that isn't opened until Memorial weekend. Carowinds is owned by Cedar Fairs, same people who own Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH and Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA among many others. Carowinds is a lot like Knott's with a few more roller coasters and no log ride. Instead of Camp Snoopy, they have Planet Snoopy. The amusement park is actually in both North and South Carolina, with even a roller coaster that takes you through both states. I believe that to be the best part about it. It is what makes it unique from all the other parks.

They have a three wooden roller coasters; the Hurler, Carolina Goldrush and Thunder Road which is a twin racer. They send both sides off at the same time and see who wins. This is the one that goes through both states. The other roller coasters they have are the Afterburn, Carolina Cyclone, Carolina Cobra, Ricochet, Vortex, and Night Hawk. Night Hawk is interesting because you get on it and then it lays you down and you right the coaster head first laying down. Vortex is a standing roller coaster. The most spectacular one though is called the Intimidator, after Dale Earnhardt. Instead of showing you the several pictures that it takes to get it all, I took a picture of the layout that you can see below.

Carowinds also has a couple of water rides; Rip Roarin' Rapids and White Water Falls, which I can guarantee you will get wet on if not soaked. The also have a dragon swing type ride that goes upside down called the Southern Star, the Scrambler, Yo Yo (swings), Dodgem (bumper cars), Scream Weaver (like the old loop trainer at Knotts) and Boo Blasters, a ride that you sit down and it takes you through it and you try to shoot the ghosts. There are also a few tower riders; the Carolina Skytower, Windseeker, and Drop Tower. Windseeker is basically a swing at the top of the tower and Drop Tower is just that... it takes you to the top and drops you.Like many other Cedar Fair parks, Snoopy is the mascot. This one has a Planet Snoopy. Just like Camp Snoopy at Knotts, this is for the kiddies... Lots of cool rides though. 3 small roller coasters, a train, a carousel and other types of ridesWe had a great time, although we didn't ride any of them. The only thing we did was the Action Theater which is an interactive movie basically. We usually just walk around and people watch. Love doing that and it is a perfect way to get exercise.Well check back later for our next adventure. We are heading to the Nascar Hall of Fame.You can view videos at Delbert's Videos on YouTube.Gotta run.....

Sunday, April 22, 2012

On Tuesday evening, we decided that maybe the campsite was a little too remote so I called the place we were going to next and checked with them to see if we could come early. We could so we took off and drove the 2 hours to North Carolina to Carowinds Wilderness Resort. This is a campground right next door to Carowinds amusement park. There is a Cracker Barrel across the street along with many other restaurants, stores, and gas stations. Its civilization again.... It started raining about an hour after we got there, but we had the trailer all set up. Its a pretty large park, but there was no one around us until Friday night. We plan on going to Carowinds on Saturday along with a few other places while we are here. Check back to see where we go.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Well, we made it to Columbia, SC and are staying at Yogi Bear Jellystone Park at River Bottom Farms. It is actually about 25 miles south of Columbia. It is a pretty ride... kinda reminds me of Oregon with all of the trees. We are about 7 miles from the grocery store and 13 miles from the closest Walmart. As far as parks go, it is probably the furthest out we have been without stores and gas stations. Its a really nice park though with 4 catch and release ponds, ducks and geese and frogs that croak all night. There also seems to be no restaurants around either, therefore we drove the 7 miles out and stocked up on groceries at the Piggly Wiggly yesterday.This morning we drove out to Columbia, which is actually the capitol of South Carolina, to see what there is. It is a very pretty little town. They have a university along with all the government buildings. We saw the Governor's mansion, South Carolina Supreme Court, Woodrow Wilson's boyhood home, and the Capitol House (State Capitol Building).

Woodrow Wilson Boyhood Home

State Capitol

Washington Statuedamaged by Civil War

Monument to theConfederate Dead

Well, this is all we saw today. If we find anything else, we will bring it to you.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Well we went to view the sites around downtown Atlanta. What a great time we had. It was Easter Sunday so the roads weren't too bad. Some of the sites we saw were:

Martin Luther King, Jr National Historic Site - Man was this cool. We toured the visitors center, another site across the street called Freedom Hall where there is a reflection pool and his burial site at the end of that, his birthplace and childhood home, an old fire station, and the Historic Ebenezer Baptist church, not to be confused with the new Ebenezer Baptist Church which is across the street. The visitors center had alot of exhibits regarding segregation and the civil rights movement. When you go across the street to Freedom Hall, this is where you get the tickets for the house tour. While waiting for our time slot, we roamed around the three rooms they have there. One of the rooms was dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr with all kinds of artifacts of his like his minister's robe, Mrs. Kings dress and other neat stuff. The second room was dedicated to Ghandi with artifacts of his and the third room was dedicated to Rosa Parks. There was a beautiful quilt hanging in her room and all kinds of family photos. Now is it time to gather at Fire Station No 6. There are many exhibits in here that discussed desegregation of the Atlanta Fire Department and the riots of 1906.

From here we continue walking up Auburn Street to his birth place. This home was the home of his maternal grandfather and is where his mother was raised. She married his father and they raised 3 children in this house... MLK and his older sister, Christine and his younger brother, Alfred Daniel (AD). The guide said that all the women in the family were teachers of some sort and all the men were ministers and civil rights activists.The house looks small from the outside, but it was quite large and pretty modern for that time.

After the house tour, we walked back to the Freedom Hall and visited Dr. King and Mrs. Kings graves and then walked on down to the Historic Church. Wow did that bring back memories. Looked alot like the church I grew up in minus the stain glass windows. It is really quite an awesome time walking around such a historic area.

Carter Center - Our next stop was the Carter Center or Jimmy Carter Library. Ironically, it is at the end of the Freedom Parkway. This was a cool place. I don't know if it is quite as neat as the others, but it is pretty cool. There are alot of exhibits and photographs depicting his time in office including a replication of Oval office and the Iran hostage crisis. That is the one thing I remember about his presidency. I remember when they were freed. The museum\library is on 30 acres and looks so nice and peaceful.

Turner Field Atlanta Braves

Centennial Olympic Park

Georgia State Capitol

Georgia DomeAtlanta Falcons

Margaret Michell's houseAuthor of Gone with the Wind

Federal Reserve

This pretty much covers the entire day. We still need to get out and see the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Six Flags and anything else I could find along with dinner with a couple of friends. I will keep you "posted".

About Me

My husband, Delbert and I have decided to run away from home and become a full-time rv'er. We tried it out for a summer in 2010 and absolutely loved it. Sold our 27' travel trailer and bought a 35' travel trailer with a slide... Boy does that slide make a difference. We left our home on July 1, 2011 and have been on the road ever since. UPDATE: My husband was hit with colon cancer in 2012 and we were back in an apartment until July 2013. We also decided to trade in the 35' travel trailer for a 38' fifth wheel with 4 slides. LOVE IT. We are now back on the road....